Mark Arbour

October 12, 2001 Claremont, Ohio I walked around the condo, the one that Robbie had bought, admiring how nicely it was decorated, and how convenient it was. It was right downtown, with easy access to shopping and bars, and a short walk over a bridge to Triton. Robbie had put the condo in joint name, and I’d decided to keep it. It would remind me that this city was important to him, and hopefully that would make me more willing to remain involved with it and its citizens

i think that the general opinion of people over 40 is that tattoos are something one gets when one is young and stupid, and are inconvenient once you enter the 'adult world', especially the business world. That's probably true, since those narrow-minded people tend to manage that environment. I think it's simply a matter of personal choice, similar to hairstyles or clothing picks, even though tattoos have longer-lasting effects. Those choices come with risks, and with rewards. One risk is that your tastes will change, and you'll be stuck with something on your body you don't like. Another is that you'll run into one of those narrow-minded idiots when you're in the world of commerce who would judge you for your body art. I have a friend in his sixties who was making some unpleasant comments about a young woman with a beautiful tattoo on her back (it was a dragon). He seemed to think she'd gotten it when she was drunk off her ass (like the one he'd gotten in Manila when he was in the Navy...can you say hypocrite?). He didn't realize how long it takes (or how expensive it was) for her to get that done. It was not a drunken lapse of judgment. On the other hand, you can end up with some really attractive and sexy art on your body. If you want an example, go to the gallery and take a look at Mann Rambling's geisha-in-progress. I can't wait to see the finished product!

Good job. You should have pointed out to him that true Canadians are never that rude, so he must be an immigrant too. ;-)

Actually, Will honored JJ's request in Norway. He was pretty clear about that, in basically telling JJ that if he wanted him to back off Evan, all JJ had to do was say so. He's doing the same thing to Matt now, expecting a similar acquiescence.

Good picks. Correction: As far as Will's concerned, Matt can talk to Tony all he wants, he just can't fuck him.

I think he has a lot to do, just dealing with re-integrating himself into his home life. That would have to be majorly strange.

Thanks for the review, but I have to disagree with you on the deal with Will. I think if he actually burned the GMC up, that would be pretty immature, but what he did do was clearly lay out to Matt that Tony was important to him, and he explained to Matt that, as a member of the family, he expected Matt to leave him alone.

This is one of those issues where the reader responses just puzzle me. Sometimes, I'll throw stuff out there, expecting a firestorm, and I'll get a 'meh' from readers, and I'll stare at the screen in relative amazement, then move on. Then there are times, like this, where the issue to me is so incredibly clear cut that it's not even debatable, and I'll have people who see the gray. There is no comparison between Will sleeping with Kyle/Erik, or any of the other hookups in this series, with one big exception: Sam and Jake. Brad brought Jake along on that trip to Claremont in Be Rad, and Sam slept with him. Brad was Sam's stepson, for all intents and purposes, and what made it wrong was that Sam slept with the guy his stepson was dating. No gray area there: Wrong. In this situation, if Matt sleeps with Tony, Matt is hooking up with a guy that Will is really into. Will is the reason Tony's been around. It's not about fidelity, and Tony keeping his word, it's about Matt not screwing the dude his brother is into. What if John brought a girl to Escorial for dinner, someone who was really important to him, and then Darius decided to fuck her? Would that be alright? I don't think the family would think it's OK at all. And even if Matt doesn't really consider Will to be his brother, they are clearly family members, so no matter how deep the bond is or isn't, that alone makes screwing around with the guy a problem.

Actually, the data I was looking at was the attitudinal stuff he culled in 1998. I didn't read the call to arms you perceived, but then again, I wasn't diving into his discussion as much as looking at the conclusions. Regardless, it makes sense that someone who is less friendly towards homosexuality would transfer that onto attitudes about security clearances for LBGT people.

Based on the description you posted of Omega males, I'm wondering why you classed Will as an Alpha. A lot of that sounds like him.

Happy birthday! Glad to oblige! That's a really good observation, and certainly a true one. When either one of those guys is seriously crossed, extreme paybacks are a possibility. Anyone see a burning GMC in the future? LOL.

I had a few questions on the discrimination issue at Triton, and it definitely deserved some comments. For the record, I'm not aware of any company that had an issue like I described. It was not a generalizable situation. So as Tim noted, there's a certain amount of artistic license I'm taking here. That being said, there are a couple of things that make this plausible. First are the general attitudes about gay people and security clearance. Lewis (2002) published an interesting article on attitudes toward gay people and security clearance, and while there was much that was positive in his report, he did find that those who had issues with homosexuality were more likely to deny people security clearances. I juxtapose that against the general post-9-11 paranoia to suggest that Bock could be just such an individual. The other issue is the well-publicized accounts of the military purging Farsi and Arabic translators from it's ranks when it discovered (after pro-active snooping) that they were gay. This was done under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" umbrella.

Brad must be in a bit of a quandary with this whole Mendoza thing, because on the one hand, he likes the attention of this prime stud, but on the other, he's emotionally withdrawn and pretty distant. He's still trying to stop thinking about Robbie every five minutes.

I think the big difference here, as has been noted, is that Matt and Will are nominally brothers, and that gives Will the right to expect that his boyfriends (or some variation on that theme) are exempt from predators within his own family. That makes the picture completely different than it was for Kyle/Erik. The problem with a Cam type character is that he's really not going to be up with Will on a maturity level. I can definitely see Will with a younger guy when he's older (maybe early-mid 20s), but now, as he has for so long, he's looking up in age, where he feels more of an affinity.

Brad is kind of a crazed beast in this situation, where he does need to latch onto some things. He can only grab for his family so much, because if he put his all into the boys, he'd smother them, and we know how well that would work. (SMILE). Painting is a partial release, but that leaves Brad with two other reasonable options: work or sex.

Matt and Wade will make a return shortly. Flirting is good, and harmless. Probably not a bad thing for either of those guys right now.

All authors are attention whores. Reviews and forum comments are the currency we are paid in for our 'tricks'. :-) (Hears other authors out there shaking their heads, saying "I'm not". Liars.) I think that Brad is keeping his distance from Cody because he's not ready for that kind of intimacy yet. Notice how some indulge in sex as almost a drug to salve the pain (Stef, and now Matt & Will) while others almost reject it (like Brad).

Thanks for the review! Brad and JP had a bit of a discussion on the impact of 9-11 some chapters back, but I certainly can see them doing that again. I think that there is more on their minds at this point, most specifically, trying to get through that agonizing grief that is gripping them.

"...the full George Takei OH, MY!" LMAO I'm not sure I see Brad letting Mendoza loose on his whole family. He actually keeps them more insulated than Stef would have. And thanks for both the review, and for the holiday wishes. Enjoy your holidays as well!

I'll talk about the gay discrimination issue in the forums, where I have more room, and more editing ability (SMILE). The issue with Matt and Will is exactly what you identified: Will is asking Matt to act like his brother. Matt clearly doesn't see that relationship. I actually kicked myself for not including QAF earlier, but I'm throwing it in now, about 11 CAP months late. Ugh.

Thanks for the review Kevin! Only 9 for the last chapter. I was worried I was losing my touch. ;-) I think you'll find Brad's date with Mendoza to be interesting.

October 10, 2001 Escorial “You still coming with us to the meeting?” Wade asked me as we ate an early dinner. “Absolutely. Dude, I love those meetings,” I said. “A bunch of gay college guys. Doesn’t get better than that.” Stef smiled, while everyone else ignored me. We finished eating, and then Grand informed us that it was time to leave. He, Wade, Matt, and I piled into the limo for the brief ride to Stanford. “I suspect this will be a relatively short meeti

Happy Birthday!!!

Jan, I'm late, so apologies, but I do hope you had a good birthday!

Thanks for the review, and for bringing up the work my team does. I agree with you completely, that a good story can be made bad by horrible mistakes. Those people make me look good; no mean feat.